PRENATAL ALCOHOL: ENDOCRINE AND BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS

我们实验室和其他实验室之前的研究已经证明，产前 酒精暴露可导致血管去血管化和女性化 男性的性两面性行为。这种影响在很大程度上导致了 从乙醇对胎儿和新生儿睾酮的抑制影响 制作。出生前没有睾丸素的激增，而出生后 在胎儿酒精暴露(FAE)男性中，浪涌是减弱的。正常的 这些高潮的发生和时机对性行为至关重要 男性大脑的分化。性腺类固醇还具有 对后叶加压素和催产素系统发育的组织影响， 这两个基因都涉及一系列成人行为的表达， 包括性行为、水的消耗和昼夜节律 运动活动模式的节律。初步数据显示 FAE动物的行为改变表明这些系统可能是 在子宫内被乙醇改变。此外，我们观察到了显著的 降低大脑中的加压素水平。我们已建议研究 乙醇对使用乙醇的FAE雄虫上述系统发育的影响 催产素和加压素基因的原位杂交。行为 研究的目的是描述产前酒精的影响 成年后的昼夜节律暴露。研究的目的还在于 孤束核视交叉上核反应性的研究 动物。其他研究将检查该药的治疗效果。 围产期睾酮替代治疗对围产期的影响 酒精对男性性别分化的一些影响。数据 从这些研究中得出的结论将对开发 治疗宫内酒精暴露儿童的内分泌策略。他们 也将大大增加我们对神经内分泌的了解 对控制昼夜节律的贡献。

Previous work from our laboratory and others has demonstrated that prenatal ethanol exposure can result in demasculinization and feminization of sexually dimorphic behaviors in males. This effect results in large part from the inhibitory influence of ethanol on fetal and neonatal testosterone production. The prenatal surge of testosterone is absent and the postnatal surge is attenuated in fetal alcohol exposed (FAE) males. The normal occurrence and timing of these surges is critical to the sexual differentiation of the male brain. Gonadal steroids also have an organizational influence on developing vasopressin and oxytocin systems, both of which are involved in the expression of a range of adult behaviors, including sexual behavior, water consumption and regulation of circadian rhythms in locomotor activity patterns. Preliminary data demonstrate behavioral alterations in FAE animals indicating that these systems may be altered by in utero ethanol. In addition, we have observed significant decreases in vasopressin levels in brain. We have proposed to study the influence of ethanol on the development of these systems in FAE males using in situ hybridization for oxytocin and vasopressin mRNA. Behavioral studies are designed to characterize the influence of prenatal ethanol exposure on circadian rhythms in adulthood. Studies are also designed to study the responsiveness of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the sesw animals. Other studies will examine the therapeutic efficacy of testosterone replacement during the critical prenatal period to ameliorate some of the effects of ethanol on sexual differentiation in males. Data derived from these studies will be important in the development of endocrine strategies to treat children exposed to alcohol in utero. They will also add significantly to our understanding of the neuroendocrine contribution to the control of circadian rhythms.